The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for managing workflow, and particularly, to systems and methods for managing the workflow of medical staff in a healthcare facility. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for assigning tasks to medical staff.
Computer-based systems used in healthcare facilities, such as hospitals, to manage workflow and assign tasks to the medical staff, such as nurses, orderlies, transporters, housekeeping personal, and the like, are known. The NaviCare® system, version 5.2, (referred to hereafter as “NaviCare® 5.2 system”) marketed by Hill-Rom Company, Inc. is one such example. Details of the NaviCare® 5.2 system are shown and described in the Appendices forming part of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/642,775 to which the present application claims priority and which is incorporated by reference herein. In some known workflow systems, as tasks are completed or events transpire, this data is entered substantially in real time by medical staff via key presses, mouse clicks, or touch of a screen at monitoring stations located throughout the healthcare facility.
The NaviCare® 5.2 system includes software that is executed to provide a tabular display of the status of patients, tasks that need to be performed, patient information, status of rooms, patient location, and other information at the various monitoring stations or displays located throughout the hospital. The NaviCare® 5.2 system allows medical staff to track the status of patients as the patients move throughout the hospital. In the NaviCare® 5.2 system, many of the various tasks that need to be performed, information about patients, and other information are represented by icons on the displayed tables. Exemplary icons include a bucket icon to indicate that room cleanup is needed, a gurney icon to indicate that the patient is ready for transport or is being transported, a house icon to indicate that the patient has been discharged, and a scalpel icon to indicate that a medical procedure is underway, just to name a few.